Past, Present, and Future

by DragonShadow

14 - Exposed

Chapter 14: Exposed

Spike shifted with a soft groan, rolling over until he hit his first obstacle, a scaly, coiled body sleeping soundly against his side. Not for the first time, he allowed himself to take in the fact that she looked so happy and comfortable beside him. He stroked her side up to the base of her wing, feeling her soft breath and subtle shifting movement under his claw. They had been here for a little while, and he was beginning to really get used to this. Even Discord didn't seem so bad anymore, even if he did get in the way a lot.

Carefully Spike rolled his girlfriend's coils off of him so he could climb to his feet and approach his cavern entrance, looking out over the face of Fire Mountain and beyond. This wasn't just a place he lived, he wasn't a kid living with his guardian. This was his cave, with his hoard, and his girlfriend.

Perhaps this was where he truly be-

"Psssst."

Spike blinked and looked around in confusion. There were no dragons near his cave...

"Psssst."

He wandered in the direction of the psssst'ing, which seemed to be coming from a large boulder sitting right near the entrance to his cave. Now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure that boulder hadn't been there the night before.

"Uh... talking rock?" Spike cocked his head confusedly.

"Spike, it's me... Twilight..." Now that it was speaking in a normal, albeit low voice, Spike was now able to recognize it.

"Twilight? That's you? But I thought the heat here could cook a pony alive!"

"It can... this boulder illusion is also a heat-ward." The boulder seemed to shudder in front of him. "Spike I'm so glad I found you, I need to take you home. I made a terrible mistake, and there's been a terrible misunderstanding."

"Take me home?" Spike took a few steps back. "I don't want to go home. I've really found a place here. I'm happy!"

"Spike, I know what it must sound like, but Equestria is in danger, and-"

"What? That's ridiculous! Equestria can't be in danger just because I'm happy! Can't you just be happy for me?"

Twilight stammered for a moment, the boulder shaking like an Earthquake was rocking it back and forth. "Of course I'm happy for you, I want you to be happy..."

"Then please, Twilight... I'm sorry, but I want to live here, and learn what it's like to be a dragon... what it's really like to be a dragon, not from some adolescent punks... and so far, I really like it." Spike waved a claw at the boulder and turned to head inside. "Goodbye, Twilight..."

"Spike! Wait! I... nnngh... I met your mother!"

Twilight's voice brought Spike to a screeching halt, his eyes shooting wide open. He felt like his heart had stopped.

"I met your mother, Spike..." Twilight continued from the mouth of the cave. "She told me you can't be here. If the Patriarch of the dragons discovers your origins... it could mean w-"

"How dare you..." Spike's claws closed into fists as his arms began to tremble. "You'll say anything to make me come back, won't you?"

"I swear to you Spike, I would never make up something like this!"

Spike whirled back toward the fake boulder and marched up to it, gripping it in his powerful claws with a snarl. Twilight squeaked as his claws punched through the rock with an audible crunch, piercing right through her spell.

"Spike! Don't! If you take down my shield I'll-"

"Then leave... me... alone!" Spike hefted the boulder off of the ground and spun away from the mountain, sending Twilight sailing through the air toward the forest... and that was that. Suddenly he was alone again, standing with his back hunched over in the first golden rays of dawn's sunlight.

"What the heck is all that yelling out here?" Pyralsprite spoke through her yawn as she moved up beside him.

"Just... letting off a little steam." Spike straightened his back with a pop and smiled down at Pyralsprite. He paused for a moment before speaking again. "Hey... have you gotten shorter lately?"

"Mmm, no, I sure haven't." Pyralsprite smiled up at him, standing several heads taller than her now. "Come on inside and get some breakfast, will you?" She turned to march into the cave away from him, her wings and tail swaying with her motions. "We got stuff to do today."

Spike stared after her for a moment, then looked down at his claws. They had grown longer lately... he hadn't even really noticed. Not until they punched so easily through Twilight's rock. Through her spell. Celestia above, if he'd lost his temper any worse... what would he have done to her? Was it happening again? Was he growing into another monster?

"Spike, hurry up. I found some sapphires for you."

"Yeah, I'm coming." Spike headed back into the cave, where Pyralsprite was sitting in the center of the cave with two small piles of gemstones laid out before her. She sat in front of one, Spike took his seat in front of the second, and Discord was just plopping down right beside the piles in his dragon form.

Discord cackled. "I must say, my time here has been marvelous in its absolute boringness."

"Come again?" Spiked raised his eyebrow.

"Sitting, and doing nothing. Sitting, and doing nothing. Sitting, and doing more nothing! I've never experienced anything like it in my life!" Discord crossed his legs in front of him. "So many thousands of years and I've never done this much nothing! I think I'm finally starting to understand Buddha! He told me all about that zen thing and I never believed it! Boy is there egg on my face..."

Spike decided to ignore him. "Hey, Pyralsprite, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Do you think I've changed since we got here?"

"Oh heck yeah." Pyralsprite nodded immediately. "You're definitely getting tougher. I can feel it in everything that you do."

"Oh..." Spike rubbed the back of his neck. "Am I... am I also getting meaner?"

"Meaner?" Pyralsprite cocked her head to one side.

"Yeah, like... you know, more violent. Do I hurt anyone for no reason?"

Discord snickered. "Well if you need to ask..."

"No, Spike." Pyralsprite cut in quickly. "You're not getting meaner. You're the same great guy you were when we left Ponyville."

Discord rested his chin on his hand curiously. "So friendship is lying, is it? That's a new one on me."

"Discord..." Pyralsprite growled warningly, "shut up."

"Oh come now, you can't possibly be honest when you say he's the same dragon he was in Ponyville. I barely know anything about sane people and even I can see he has radically changed. Not that that's a bad thing, a creature with some fight in him has the guts to go a long way." Discord threw a few quick punches at the air. "Got the eye of the tiger or dragon or whatever creature you think has eyes... which is most of them... that is a strange phrase really..."

"I said shut up!" Pyralsprite jumped to her feet. "I am getting so sick of you! All you do is mock us! I still don't even know why you're sticking around here! I hate you, Spike is sick of you, what do you want?"

Discord just rolled his eyes and leaned against Spike's shoulder. "Sheesh. Women, right?"

"Aaaaaargh!" Pyralsprite roared in frustration and turned to stomp toward the exit. "That is it! I am going to turn you in right now! I don't know why I should put up with some dumb Draconequus when I can just be rid of you forever!"

"Because friendship is magic, right Spike?" Discord glanced up at Spike curiously out of the corner of his eye.

Spike just stared at him, rewinding in his mind the moment where he'd thrown Twilight out of his life once again. He hadn't even gone to make sure she was okay...

"I..."

"Ah!" Pyralsprite squeaked in surprise from the cavern entrance. Spike and Discord both looked, then leapt to their feet at the sight of Lemonsnout standing in the entrance, his massive body blocking nearly all light from outside. "Lemonsnout!"

"Did you just say what I think you did, Pyralsprite?" Lemonsnout growled. "Did you say it?"

"S-say? Say what? That he's dumb?" Pyralsprite grinned weakly.

"Draconequus!" Lemonsnout's roar was so strong the wind alone blew Pyralsprite back across the cave towards her two companions, who caught her between them. "The Patriarch sensed one here, remember? And he still does..."

"Gah! W-well yeah, but... not literally! It was an insult! Like... hey, you dumb Draconequus!" She punched Discord in the chin so hard he spun to the ground with a thud. "Ahehehe... see?"

Lemonsnout approached them slowly, his gaze sticking to Discord. "I've never even seen this creature before... this type of dragon."

"You can't see air, does that mean it doesn't exist?" Discord grinned.

Lemonsnout snorted. "What?"

"If you shave a bear is it a bear or a bare?"

"What?"

"Precisely!"

"I... what?"

"See? I told you he was stupid." Pyralsprite laid a gentle claw on Lemonsnout's nearest foot. "Just another complete idiot we don't have to worry about, now let's get out of here and get a nice bath, hm? Nothing wakes me up like the smell of disintegrating insects and dust particles..."

Lemonsnout shook his head slowly, glancing down at Pyralsprite for a moment before suddenly whirling, spitting a powerful spout of flame that engulfed the entire cavern. Spike and Pyralsprite's scales were immune to fire, and this stuff didn't even have much magic in it. For a moment after the fire died down Spike wasn't sure what he'd been trying to do... then he noticed Discord lying against the far wall in his true form, his fur burning and smoldering in patches.

There was silence for a long moment, then Lemonsnout howled in anger, "you are a traitor to our race, Pyralsprite! I should have known! You were always an outsider!" He whirled to march toward the exit.

Pyralsprite zipped in front of him, hovering near his head. "No! Lemonsnout, please, we're friends, remember? We're friends again!"

"Your friendship is meaningless!" Lemonsnout knocked her out of the way with a swift smack of his muzzle and continued on his path until he came to a stop. Spike had taken up position at the cavern entrance.

Spike stood with his back straight and his claws fanned out to each side. "If you don't care about friendship, how about respect?"

Lemonsnout stared at him warily, not willing to fight a dragon who had already bested him before. "You can't hide the draconequus. The Patriarch will find out the truth, and he will kill everyone who knew he was here. Including me." Lemonsnout took a deep breath. "Whether you kill me now or he kills me later, it won't make a difference." He fanned his wings out to the sides aggressively. "I'd rather die fighting for my life."

Spike gulped. He hadn't expected this. He'd thought a dragon would always obey their superior... but then there was still a lot he didn't know about dragons. Then again, this didn't seem like the course of a dragon's code or way of life. It was the course of any creature fearing for its life. That fear was what this society was based on, after all. Despite getting lucky once before, Spike wasn't at all sure he could win again, and if he lost, so did Pyralsprite...

However, there was still one other option...

“I may be willing to put my life on the line for a good friend, but I’m not willing to put Pyralsprite’s life on the line!"

This situation wasn't Discord's fault. True to his word he hadn't used a lick of magic since they'd had that conversation. But that didn't change the situation. Pyralsprite's life could be saved by turning Discord in now, willingly. He could stomach losing his own life protecting his friend... but Pyralsprite...

Spike lowered his claws and stood up straight. "There's another way. We can take Discord to the Patriarch together... he never has to know Discord was hiding as one of us at all."

Lemonsnout lowered his wings, pondering this. "Very well, Spike. Nobody need ever know what has happened here... but in exchange, I want my cave back."

Spike took a deep breath. "Okay..."

"What!?" Pyralsprite shrieked.

"It's only fair. He's covering our tails, he deserves it." Spike nodded and moved aside. "The cave will be yours..."

"And the hoard."

"Agreed."

Pyralsprite zipped up beside him. "Spike! You can't..."

"It's already decided, Pyralsprite." Lemonsnout sneered victoriously and turned to move past Spike. "You're lucky your stranger is smarter than you are, as well as stronger."

"Spike!" Pyralsprite whirled on him. "I refuse! I refuse to leave!"

"We don't have a choice, he has us cornered." Spike turned to approach Discord's limp form, shaking his head. "I don't get it... I've never seen anything hurt Discord like this. He's like a God, why can a little dragon fire do this to him?"

"I don't know, and I don't care." Pyralsprite huffed. "I'm just glad he'll be out of our way."

"Chaos is always at the mercy of order." Discord's eyes fluttered open as he spoke. "It has always been that way."

"Discord! you're awake!" Spike blushed deeply. "I... I mean..."

Discord smirked weakly. "I don't blame you for trying to turn me over, Spike. You are like any living thing. Looking out for yourself and your mate. Friendship is not everything."

Spike shuffled uncomfortably. "It doesn't make it... er... what do you mean, trying to...?"

"I recommend you run. For yourself and your mate." Without warning Discord vanished in front of them in a flash of bright light.

"Wha...?" Spike whirled toward the cave entrance when a powerful, echoing roar rang out through the air.

"Spike..." Pyralsprite cringed uncertainly.

"I say we do what he said!" Spike ran for the cave entrance, but he hadn't even made it halfway there before a form appeared before them, followed by another and another, completely blocking out the light of the sun and plunging them into darkness lit only by the fire from their furious breaths.

"The draconequus was definitely here." The lead dragon made his way inside, sniffing around the walls of the cavern. After a few moments his eyes settled on the two much smaller dragons. "You did well, Lemonsnout. You found those who were hiding him."

"Lemonsnout!" Pyralsprite howled as she backed away from the entrance. "What did you do!? We had a deal!"

"I did the right thing, Pyralsprite. Not that you would know anything about that." The golden dragon sneered as he approached the hoard against the far wall. His claws dug into the gemstones as the other dragons made their way toward Spike and Pyralsprite. "Either way, these are mine again. Goodbye, Pyralsprite."

Pyralsprite and Spike backed against the far wall as the two other dragons approached, tongues of flame licking out between teeth longer than Pyralsprite's body.

"Spike..." Pyralsprite gulped, speaking in a soft whisper. "Get on my back... I'm going to need you to help guide me..."

"Guide you?" Spike blinked slowly. "O-okay... on the count of-" He leapt into the air with a shriek, just barely avoiding a pair of gigantic jaws snapping shut. "Right now!" His feet landed on the dragon's snout and he kicked himself to the right where Pyralsprite was already taking to the air. He felt like he was moving in slow motion as he arched through the air toward her, his claws wrapping around her neck as he settled into place.

Just like that the slow motion was over. Pyralsprite's body seemed to snap straight as an arrow as she darted forward, right between two of the back teeth during the second dragon's furious snap at them. They were outside in seconds, but they were far from home free. Winged dragons filled the sky before them, so thick that it was they, not the two in the cave, who were blotting out the sun. Pyralsprite whirled back toward the volcanic mountain just before she reached the wall of dragons, avoiding another snapping pair of jaws.

"Spike! I can't smell anything at this speed! There's too much wind!" Pyralsprite shouted behind her.

"Just go where I press!" Spike set his thighs against her sides his hands on the top and bottom of her neck.

Several dragons snapped as they passed, and broke off from the crowd, giving pursuit down the side of the mountain. Pyralsprite flew so close to the rock that her wings nearly clipped the stone, but as long as she was so close, the other dragons couldn't get right on their tail without completely sacrificing one of their own wings. There were advantages to being smaller than everyone else.

That didn't put them out of harm's way, however. A sea of snapping jaws and slashing claws hurled themselves into their path, with only Spike's gentle, but quick nudges sending Pyralsprite through the crowd. The dragons got so close at times Spike could feel the heat of their inner fire breath, and he swore he could feel the wind of a giant claw's passing inches behind Pyralsprite's tail. Huge chunks of stone were gouged out of the mountain at their side, tumbling down toward the ground, where all of the wingless dragons waited with fire in their eyes.

"We're going the wrong way..." Spike muttered to himself. But there was no way they could get away if they went up. The cone itself was being swarmed by countless flying dragons. He couldn't see the clouds or the forest, and the ground was being guarded by even bigger wingless dragons... but there was no such thing as giving up.

"Pyralsprite, our only chance is to make a break for it in open air." Spike muttered into her ear. "But-"

"I hear you." Pyralsprite nodded. "If we don't make it... I don't regret anything."

"Yeah, me neither." Spike took a deep breath, and pressed his thigh against her side.

One dragon arced away from them in surprise when Pyralsprite darted away from the side of the mountain out into open air. The boiling blood in Spike's veins was pumping like never before as the two dragons now flew openly through a sea of claws and gnashing teeth, whirling and spinning desperately through the crowd. Their only saving grace was their small size, and seemingly a whole lot of luck, but that couldn't last forever...

The first wave of attacking dragons passed them by, and to his surprise when they emerged from the crowd there was a hole in the wall of dragons beyond. He could see the bright blue of the sky outside... sweet, inviting light. Perhaps too many had come in to attack, and their cage had been weakened as a result. Whatever the reason, Spike couldn't let this opportunity slip. He pressed against Pyralsprite's body to send her hurtling towards the light.

Too late he realized the dragons in the wall were watching them, hovering just outside their range. They were being let out...

Pyralsprite's head lifted slightly as they passed through the wall. "Patriarch..."

A claw the size of Golden Oaks Library swung in toward them, shockingly fast for such a giant creature. Spike barely had time to squeeze Pyralsprite's side before it came crashing down around both of them, catching them like he were catching an arrow in his palm.

"Gah! No!" Pyralsprite struggled desperately to free herself as the Patriarch steadied himself in the air, bringing the two dragons up to face him.

"You brought the draconequus to our land." The Partriarch spit emerald green flames between his teeth, so hot they seemed to ooze down his lips like magma. "The draconequus have been a thorn in our side since the beginning of time. The imps of chaos we swore to wipe out, and believed that we had. How could a dragon associate with a creature so disgusting?"

"You call him disgusting?" Spike struggled against the dragon's grip, but he couldn't even bend the creature's palm, and he didn't struggle too hard for fear of hurting Pyralsprite, who was pressed sharply against his front. "You're the one who's disgusting! At least he's trying to be a good person! You're just a bully!"

"A bully?" The Patriarch let out a mocking laugh. "We are the guardians of order and structure. We bring peace to the chaos, and the only way true peace can be achieved is through respect."

Spike howled. "No! That's not respect, what you're talking about is just fear! Friendship is the way to true peace! We can all live together through understanding!"

"Your ignorance is familiar..." The Patriarch moved the two dragons closer to his face. "You sound like a pony..."

Spike held his head up proudly, trying to look strong despite his shaking voice. "That's right... the ponies taught me the right way to live. They taught me everything. And you'll never turn me around... you'll never change me. No matter what. I know what's right."

A deep grumbling sound like an earthquake echoed around him, and Spike realized a moment later it was the hovering dragons nearby mumbling and muttering among themselves in hushed whispers. The Patriarch himself was just staring at Spike and Pyralsprite, his grip on them tightening slowly, threatening to crush them together.

"A-aaahhh..." Pyralsprite hissed in pain as her body writhed against his. "S-Spike..."

"Pyral..." Spike gritted his teeth against the pain shooting through his body. "I'm sorry..."

"You disgrace your heritage..." The Patriach's voice began as a low growl, then rose into a furious roar. "You disgrace us all!"

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Pyralsprite howled in pain as the grip only tightened, but without warning the Patriarch's grip loosened as an explosive sound echoed through the air. Spike caught only a glimpse of a massive green shape hurtling toward them from the forest, a green cloud that looked strangely familiar. Wait... it looked like Zecora's illusion dust, and a lot of it... but this was no time to think.

Swiftly Spike gripped the side of the Patriarch's claw and heaved himself upward, dragging Pyralsprite from his loose grasp to send them both plummeting through the sky. He hear several dragons gasp, but none could reach them before they plunged through the smoke. Spike gripped Pyralsprite's body tightly in his claws, clinging to her until they emerged from the bottom of the cloud, heading straight for the trees far below.

"P-Pyral! you've got to fly!"

"Nnngh..." Pyralsprite groaned as her wings fluttered weakly at the air. "I can't... wings hurt... what's even going on?"

"I don't know but we're gonna crash! Please! I know you can do it!" Spike clung to her tightly.

"Nnngh..." Slowly Pyralsprite opened her wings. They were folded and creased sharply inside the thin membrane, but they did catch the air enough to send them gliding forward away from the dragons above.

Spike looked back in surprise to see the green mist that had interrupted the proceedings had expanded, cutting off his view of the dragons, and the mountains, entirely. It was definitely for the best, because they weren't exactly breaking speed records anymore. In fact their momentum was still more down than forward, though he didn't feel like they would die on impact now.

In fact, there would be no impact at all. As they neared the tree line he felt a familiar magical energy wrap around them both, holding them steady as it brought them below the treetops and down to rest them gently on the grass.

"Nnngh, ow..." Pyralsprite let her wings flop to the grass as soon as the magic released her. "I don't wanna move..."

Spike jumped to his feet quickly, whirling until he saw the familiar purple face watching him from close by. She looked tired, but satisfied. "Twilight... you're still here..." Spike rubbed the back of his neck. "After what I did to you, you... you stayed... you saved us..."

"Of course I did." Twilight trotted up to give him a gentle nuzzle on the cheek. "I'd never abandon you, no matter what you do to me. Or how big you get..." Twilight was looking up at him surprise. Wait... Twilight Sparkle was looking up at him.

Before he could feel how strange this was Zecora raced toward them from the nearby trees, skidding to a stop nearby. "We must make haste before the dragons' power overwhelms the magic of my illusion powder!"

Twilight shook her head clear. "You're right! Zecora, would you mind carrying Pyralsprite?" The zebra shook her head, and soon the four of them were galloping through the forest at full speed, with Pyalsprite on Zecora's back and Spike on Twilight's.

"Spike..." Twilight glanced back as they ran. "This is important, and I need an answer now. Does the Patriarch know you were raised in Equestria?"

Spike nodded slowly. "Y-yeah, sure. I told him how I was raised, and that I was proud of being raised the right way, the pony way."

Twilight bit her lip. "I'm glad you're proud... but this is very, very bad..."

"Why is it-"

A piercing shriek cut through the air just then, so powerful Spike felt like he was about to pass out even after he clamped his claws over his ears. The ponies stumbled to a stop on the grass just in time to look up and see the green powder split apart across the sky in a wave, breaking up as it went. Even as it did Spike could feel something tugging his attention back the way they had come. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to hop off of Twilight and go running back. Pyralsprite was twitching, but seemed too weak to take off even if she wanted to.

As the sound died away, Zecora locked eyes with Twilight, for once ignoring her usual rhyming scheme. The sound of her tone made even Spike's hot blood run cold. "We must warn Canterlot."

Comments

[Erico]

Ohhh dear.

[djthomp]

Good job Spike, way to screw up everything. It's almost like you should listen when your friends and family are trying to talk to you.

[redmar]

6400102 You're right and Discord was correct in stating that Paraspryte was lying to Spike about changes.